Of the Guilty
by rainbowlouise
Summary: News headlines scream murder following the tragic accident in the FentonWorks lab, pointing the finger at the town's silver-haired hero. Weeks later, ghost sightings begin to pop up all over Jump City, leaving the Titans with one question- who is Phantom?
1. Beginning of the End

**A/N**

**I really ought to finish my existing multi-chapter stories before I begin new ones, but oh well.**

**This is dedicated to my lovely best friend Bell (Aleria14), whose birthday just happens to be in four minutes!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELL! 3 **

**I hope you enjoy, and no, I don't own DP or TT. I can only dream... -wistful sigh-**

**And so, onwards!**

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He shouldn't have been there.

It was far too late at night. The sky was dark and starless, a thick fog of clouds hanging high in the sky. A summer breeze warmed the air around Fenton Works, but inside the house felt unseasonably cold.

Jack Fenton sat awake in the lab, eyes sharp and focused as he gently coaxed two wires together, pulling on the fibres to make a connection. His shoulders sagged with exhaustion, but Jack himself barely registered how tired he was. His mind was elsewhere, buried deep within swirling emotions of frustration at his latest failure.

Jack was absent-minded at times, but he was in no way an imbecile. He was aware of his reputation in Amity Park, but he simply _didn't care_. To him, all that mattered was keeping his family – and by that extension, the town – safe from ghosts.

His inventions _should've _worked. He knew how to calibrate spectral energy with modern electronics, and how to pinpoint the ecto signature that was every ghost's calling card. He built his weapons with the almost radio frequency-like molecules of your a-typical ghost in mind, knowing exactly how to structure the blast so it would tear those molecules apart. Ghosts couldn't be killed – they were essentially just semi-sentient matter. It was all so very simple in theory, so why were his inventions a constant disappointment?

Jack set his latest work down – an improved version of the Fenton Fisher – and leant back in his chair. His stomach rumbled and he smiled absently. He yawned and got to his feet. _A little snack before bed,_ he promised himself, heading for the stairs that led out of the lab.

The sound of glass shattering rang out behind him, followed by a sickening _thud _as something heavy collided with the floor. Jack turned, already moving into a battle-ready stance and opening his mouth to call for Maddie. He watched from the shadowy stairwell as a silver-haired teen hauled himself to his knees, struggling to keep himself upright. From above floated down a ghost donned in a metal suit, weapons jutting out every which way. He glanced at Jack, but otherwise ignored him. Jack reached for his ecto-pistol, but cursed when he found the holster empty.

He eyed the table, seeing it lying innocently beside the Fenton Fisher. Damn it! He quickly weighed his options. The most obvious was to try for the pistol, but there were two malevolent spooks in his lab and he wasn't sure whether he could take them both out with a simple pistol before they attacked. He could call for Maddie, but that would draw attention to himself and leave him defenceless.

The third option was to stay hidden on the shadowy stairwell and wait for a window of opportunity to arrive. The metal ghost – Skulker, he recalled – sneered at the ghost teen and raised a clenched fist.

"I'm surprised that you only lasted this long, whelp," Skulker said with a note of finality, "Your stamina must be slipping."

The ghost boy lifted his head and stared at Skulker with angry yet exhausted green eyes. Jack watched him try to stand, watched him grapple for something to hold on to.

"Not... finished... yet..." Phantom wheezed, leaning against the wall for support. "Just let me... catch my... second wind."

"Not today, abomination." Skulker murmured, triumph flashing in his eyes. "Today, your pelt hangs on my wall." He raised his gun, and Jack found the window.

He ran from his hiding place and grabbed his pistol. Skulker looked at him with mild surprise and a flicker of annoyance passed over his ghostly features. "Freeze, spook!" Jack yelled, hoping Maddie would hear him on the second floor.

"You again, buffoon." Skulker growled, "Need I destroy you as well?"

Phantom shook his head. "Jack, don't!"

"Stay out of this, ghost boy." Jack spat, "Both of you, out of my lab before I fry you!"

"Puny human," Skulker chuckled, aiming his gun squarely at Jack's head, "join the deceased."

Jack fired once, dropping to the floor just in time to feel a pulse of spectral energy pass over his head. Skulker fired again and Jack rolled to the left, hiding behind a filing cabinet while Skulker shot at him again and again. He reached into his belt and pulled out his communicator, praying Maddie had left hers on.

"Mads!" He yelled into it, "Mads, pick up!"

The frequency buzzed to life. _"Jack?"_

"Ghost attack in the lab!" Jack cried, "Help!" He felt the cold presence of the ghost loom above him, and he fired blindly, hoping to at least slow it down.

He was in his _lab _for God's sake! He had hundreds of weapons much better than his puny pistol, he just had to get to them.

"Skulker, it's me you want!" Phantom called – a hint of desperation in his voice? – a little louder this time. Jack made a dash for the far wall, his hand just grasping the handle to his weapons cabinet. He felt a hot flash of pain in the back of his thigh as Skulker finally found his mark, crying out in pain. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Phantom launch himself at Skulker, sending them both crashing through the opposite wall.

Jack grabbed the nearest weapon he could find and fired, hearing Phantom's cry of agony. Skulker laughed, a deep, throaty sound that filled the entire room. He floated back towards Jack. "You just disarmed your only hope, human." He sneered, "Now die."

The weapon he held this time was bigger, a bright red charge lighting up at the hilt. Jack tried to shoot again, but he'd forgotten to recharge it. He cursed under his breath, desperately grabbing for another and feeling his hand enclose around a small ecto-grenade. He smirked. _Perfect._

Phantom appeared from the rubble, eyes and fingertips crackling with green energy. He blasted Skulker in the back, but it had almost no effect. Phantom was too weak. Time seemed to slow down as Jack pulled the pin from the grenade, hurling it at Skulker as Phantom soared through the air towards them.

"_Dad_!" The scream spoke of terror, of lose, of blind rage, but Jack barely heard it.

Skulker fired, bright red energy shooting towards Jack. He couldn't close his eyes, couldn't do anything but watch as the shot collided with the grenade in mid air. Couldn't do anything but scream as the two pure destructive powers met and sparks ignited. Couldn't do anything but listen to Maddie's terrified shriek of denial, listen as she called his name.

And then Danny's.

A blast of heat hit Jack's face right before the room exploded, and then he could do no more.


	2. Aftermath

**A/N**

**Thankyou to all my lovely readers and reviewers.**

**Not much to say today, except that I don't own TT or DP. Obviously. Hope you enjoy.**

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The headlines screamed murder in block writing.

**Tragic accident or ruthless killing?**

**Father and son lose their lives in vicious ghost attack.**

**Daniel and Jack Fenton murdered by malevolent Phantom.**

A boy in a black hoodie stood at the newsstand, glistening green eyes reading every one. His hands clenched and unclenched in his pockets, the black hole in his heart seemingly sucking away every good feeling he'd ever had.

His father. _Dead_.

His mother. _Hospitalised._

His sister. _Alone_.

Danny Phantom's shoulders began to shake and he squeezed his eyes shut against tears that wouldn't come. His fault, all of it.

Jack had been killed instantly, his body charred and burned in the explosion. Maddie had been saved overnight, doctors managing to stem the internal bleeding resulting from being thrown violently against the wall from the force of the blast. Jazz had been upstairs, woken up by the huge explosion that shook the entire house, but she was unharmed. Danny wondered if she really believed him to be dead.

They never recovered Danny Fenton's body. The police said it had been destroyed completely by the blast; completely blown apart. When the fire department finally cleared the area as safe to investigate, all they'd found was the silver-haired Phantom, huddled against the far wall and howling for forgiveness.

It had been a week since then.

The clouds that had settled over Amity Park a week ago still hung in the sky, a downpour of rain splashing over the city. Danny barely felt it as he walked away from the newsstand, head turned downwards so no one would see his face. He couldn't hide now – not as Fenton, who was supposed to be dead, and not as Phantom, who was the murderer. He stayed as Phantom most days. Why turn back into Danny Fenton, who had nothing left but an unconscious mother, a dead father, and a distraught sister? He couldn't face them. Couldn't face Tucker or Sam. Couldn't face Vlad Masters, who'd come to Fenton Works almost every day and called his name over and over.

Couldn't face anyone.

Danny Phantom walked towards the cemetery, knowing his clothes were soaked through yet not feeling the cold. He passed through the iron gates, seeing a crowd of people huddling under black umbrellas a little way away. He walked a little closer to them, hovering along the outskirts of the mass of people all in black.

It seemed the whole of Amity had turned out for Jack and Danny Fenton's funeral.

Danny disappeared, walking calmly through the crowd until he stood at the very front. Two marble gravestones stood side by side; father and son. Danny scowled at the wrongness of it all. All around him, people sobbed with loss. Tucker and Sam sat in the very front row, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks stained with tears. Tucker held Jazz's hand as she wailed, she and Sam leaning into one another for comfort.

Vlad Masters sat beside Tucker, head bowed and shoulders shaking with the force of his sobs. Beside him was Mr. Lancer, drawing in ragged breath after ragged breath. Friends of his parents, classmates of his, people who knew the Fenton's by name; all of them there to witness the burial of Daniel and Jack Fenton.

The priest giving the sermon finally stopped talk, and Danny was drawn from his thoughts by Jazz standing up to speak. He squeezed his eyes shut as she walked right through him, watching goosebumps prickle on the back of her neck. She took a deep breath, not bothering to wipe at her eyes.

"Thank you for coming today," Jazz began, her voice hitching in her throat, "I really appreciate it, and I know my Mom would too." Her hands were shaking so she clasped them together. "My Dad and my little brother were two of the most amazing people I ever knew. What happened wasn't fair to either of them, and... and..." She was shaking uncontrollably now. Sam and Tucker were suddenly beside her, steadying her. "I'm sorry." Jazz murmured, half to the gravestones and half to the crowd of people. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Danny felt a scream building up in his chest, so he ran. He ripped off his hoodie and kicked off his shoes, struggling out of his jeans and leaping into the air. The DP symbol on his chest seemed to burn against his skin, rain running down his face. He opened his mouth and howled, his ghostly wail tearing through the air. He heard shouts from below, angry roaring and disgusting shouting.

One agonised cry rang above the rest, ripping from his sister's mouth. _"Daaannnyyy!" _

It reminded him so much of his mother's that it hurt.

Danny wasn't quite sure what had happened in the split second before the lab had exploded. One moment he'd been flying through the air, hoping to knock Skulker out of the way before he could fire the gun, the next he'd been falling, two blue rings passing over his body and turning him back into Danny Fenton. Exhaustion had kicked in right when he needed strength the most.

His mother had called his name then, not having seen the transformation. She only saw her son and her husband lying on either side of the hunter ghost, a grenade and an ecto-bullet about to collide in mid-air.

He didn't know how he survived. He'd woken up hours later as Danny Phantom, his mind shutting down as he saw his father, charred and burning on the tiled floor. Then the police had shown up, screaming at him and ordering him to come with them, and he'd simply melted into the wall and hidden himself away, shaking with tearless sobs until he could finally control himself again.

He couldn't stay in Amity. The only thing to do now was to run. Run until he collapsed. Run until he had no idea where he was, or how to get home. Run until he could forget what he'd done. Self-imposed exile was a fitting punishment for a murderer, after all.

Danny Phantom flew on, eyes burning and chest aching, knowing he could never come back.

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"Okay, how about this one? A blonde walks into a bar and –"

"Do you mean the place where humans above the age of twenty one often go to drink alcohol, or the metal pole?" Starfire enquired, glancing at Beast Boy. The green changeling grinned. The two walked through along the sidewalk, the last rays of sunlight shining across the bay. They were just finishing their last sweep before heading home, patrol over for the day.

"The alcohol one. Anyway, so she walks in and sits down, and –"

The sound of screaming cut through the air, shrill and terrified. Starfire and Beast Boy whirled around to face the noise, eyes scanning for any signs of distress.

Then the air around them exploded.

"Ghost boy!" A voice bellowed from within the cloud of dust, "Surrender yourself now!"

The two Titans watched in astonishment as the dust cleared, revealing two men dressed completely in white. Guns rested on their shoulders, eyes covered by tinted black sunglasses even though the day was quickly becoming night.

On the ground a little away from them was a boy, his snow-white hair coated with black soot and his eyes downcast. He tried to scramble away, but one of the men fired his gun, sending the boy flying.

"Hey!" Beast Boy cried, outraged, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Starfire's hands lit up and she rose into the air.

"Leave that boy alone." She ordered.

The men turned to glare at the two teens. "This is official Guys in White business, ma'am. Clear the area."

"You can't just attack people in the middle of the street, dude." Beast Boy shook his head, "Drop the guns."

"I repeat – clear the area. This ghost is a danger to society and must be taken in for questioning."

Beast Boy cast a sidelong glance at Starfire. "Did he just say ghost?"

Starfire nodded, eyes wide. "I believe he did."

"I'm giving you kids two minutes to clear the area, before –" Whatever the man was going to say was cut off by Starfire, who fired a starbolt directly at the gun resting on his shoulder. It spun away and skidded across the ground, and for a moment nobody moved. Aside from the two Titans, the boy on the ground and the Guys in White, the street was completely empty.

Then, the remaining man fired a blast at Starfire.

Thinking quickly, Beast Boy quickly shoved Starfire out of the way, morphing into a wolf and leaping at the man with the gun before he could make another move. Starfire picked herself up and hurled a starbolt at the unarmed one, sending him flying backwards.

The guy in the white suit cried out in pain as Beastboy bowled him over and held him down, his sharp claws digging into his chest. The other guy looked bewildered for a moment, staring between Starfire and Beast Boy.

"Who are you kids? More ghosts?" He demanded, frantically looked around for his gun. It was nowhere in sight. "Where the hell is –"

"Ghost boy!" His partner yelled, "D, watch out!"

Beast Boy morphed back, raising his head to see what the other man was looking at. His eyes widened.

The white-haired boy had risen from the ground, shaking hands clumsily fumbling with the giant weapon. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" His voice was softer than a whisper, his luminescent green eyes shining with anger. His voice rose to a trembling scream. "_Why can't you just leave me alone_?"

Beast Boy cursed, barely managing to roll out of the way before the boy pulled the trigger, an explosion of energy bursting from the gun and searing towards the man on the ground. He screamed in pain as he was hit, the force of the blast sending Beast Boy stumbling. Starfire rushed to his aid, kneeling beside him on the bitumen and staring in shock at the boy.

The boy staggered, his clothes torn and his movements sluggish. He took another step and fell, head crashing against the pavement and eyelids falling shut. The two Titans ran towards him unthinkingly, Beast Boy clumsily feeling for a pulse on the boy's neck.

"Holy crap he's cold." He murmured, "I can't find a pulse! Star, call Robin or the hospital or something."

Starfire pulled out her communicator. "Robin, please answer! We are in need of your assistance!" She cried, hovering nervously beside Beast Boy, who had returned warily to the boy's side.

"_What is it, Star?" _Robin's reply was unhesitating, prepared.

"Robin, Beast Boy and I have stopped a..." she paused, unsure what to call it, "A shooting, and a boy is hurt."

"I can't find a pulse, Robin, but he's breathing." Beast Boy called. He spared a glance for the two men, but he could see the rhythmic rise and fall of their chests and so ignored them. Sirens sounded in the distance, and Beast Boy felt a flood of relief. The police could deal with them.

"_Starfire, Beast Boy, bring him back to the Tower. Cyborg will get the infirmary ready." _Robin said firmly after a few seconds deliberation. _"He'll be okay, Star." _He added as an afterthought, seeing the princess' distraught expression.

"I shall carry him." Starfire nodded as the communication cut out, turning to Beast Boy. "We need to fly fast."

Beast Boy stepped aside as Starfire pulled the unconscious boy into her arms. Although she was resistant to the cold, even she could tell that the boy's body temperature was far lower than normal. She frowned.

"I hope we are not too late." She murmured before kicking off into the sky, hearing Beast Boy's shrill falcon cry as he soared after her.


	3. Not this

**A/N**

**Thankyou all readers and reviewers and favers and whatnot.**

**I'm not to be blamed for this chapter – the characters took over, I swear. **

**I don't own DP or TT, if I did there would be actual crossovers. It'd be awesome. :D **

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In his mind, the town was burning.

Every building was aflame, every citizen screaming the same terror as they searched for lost loved ones and tried to escape the devastation.

In his mind, he was the cause of it all. Danny Phantom hovered high in the blazing red sky, his head thrown back and his eyes half-crazed. He laughed, a strangely high-pitched cackling that carried above the screams of the humans running around like ants on the ground.

He snapped his eyes to the town and his hands lit up with crimson ecto-energy. He hurled energy ball after energy ball towards the people, watching them scatter in fear and hearing their shouts of panic echo through the night.

Then, suddenly, he heard his father's voice.

"_Please, Danny, no..."_

Jack was there before him, hovering in mid-air. His skin was burned and blackened, his eyes sunken in their sockets. His jumpsuit was ripped and every breath seemed to be a wheezing struggle.

"_Dad?" _Danny murmured, _"Dad. Dad, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come home that night, I should've led Skulker somewhere else." _His voice grew softer and cracked with unshed tears. _"I was just so tired. So _weak_." _

Jack's ghost tried to smirk, but it looked more like a grimace with his cracked lips and hollow teeth. _"You should've been stronger." _He mocked, right before he plunged his hand straight through Danny's chest, ripping out his unbeating heart.

Danny woke up screaming.

Two pairs of hands held him down, one set big and clunky, the other thin and lean. Danny screamed again, eyes wide but not seeing. He struggled against the hands holding him down, trying to remember what had happened. Had the Guys in White finally captured him, or was it the human police?

He tried to focus himself, tried to find the centre he needed in order to tap into his powers. If he could just –

"Stop struggling, man! We're not trying to hurt you!"

Danny shook his head, trying to clear it. Lies, more lies. He felt a familiar weightless feeling come over him and he sank through the bed he was lying on, rolling out of it and resuming his form on the ground. He panted, breathless from the effort, and finally managed to take in his surroundings.

He was in a room that seemed to be mostly stainless steel, full of machines and monitors that looked far too science-lab-like for his taste. Danny scrambled to his feet and turned around to face his captors, teeth bared in some kind of feral half-snarl.

_Should've been stronger._

Two people stood opposite him, careful not to move any closer. Danny's panicked mind calmed a fraction as confusion took over. One of them was a hulking giant, half-made of what seemed to be... machine parts. The other boy was smaller, dressed in a spandex suit and donning a cape and mask. The half-robot held up his hands, while the whites of the smaller boy's mask narrowed a little. Danny's shoulders rose and fell as he sucked in deep breath after deep breath, waiting for one of them to make a move.

"Okay, just calm down." The smaller boy, who Danny sensed to be the leader out of the two, said quietly. "We're not going to hurt you."

Danny remained silent, green eyes unblinking.

"Why don't you just sit down, and we'll talk, okay?" Spandex-boy's voice was slow, calm, in control. Danny's hand twitched at his side. He felt trapped, and a quick glance around the room showed no obvious exits. The only way out was for him to phase through the wall or the ceiling, but he had no idea what kind of technology they could have to keep him here.

If he had any kind of chance, it would be to knock both these clowns out and then make his escape through the door on the far side of the room.

Spandex-boy waited. Then, he tried again. "Or if you'd prefer to remain standing, that's fine too. What's your name?"

Danny didn't open his mouth.

The Cyborg guy frowned. "Robin, he's seriously freaked out. Maybe we should..."

"No." Robin, Danny guessed, replied. "We need to know why those men were after you."

Danny shook his head. "You don't need to know anything." The words sounded strangely bitter in his mouth.

Robin frowned. "Actually, we do. We need to know if they're going to attack again. Innocent people could get hurt."

Danny scoffed darkly. "They're about the protection of humanity from..." The words died in his throat.

"From?" the Cyborg prompted. Danny shook his head and backed up against the wall, clamping his mouth shut. He'd said too much. He had to get away, had to keep running, couldn't stay here for long. That's what he'd promised himself – a rest for one night in the park, then he would keep going.

He hadn't counted on the GIW showing up and chasing him all through the town.

"What's your name?" Robin tried again.

"Don't have one." Danny was lying through his teeth, and Robin knew it. He took a step closer, and Danny tensed.

The Cyborg laid a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Man, leave it." He smiled at Danny. "How 'bout we tell you a little about us first, then you can tell us whatever you want, alright?"

Robin didn't look happy, but he watched for Danny's reaction.

Danny paused. It was always better to know your enemies, after all. Besides, when it came to be his turn to show and tell, he could always lie. He'd been doing it for years. He gulped, and nodded.

"Okay." He breathed. "Who are you, and what am I doing here?"

"I'm Cyborg," the half-robot guy replied, "this is Robin. We're the Teen Titans – well, part of them anyway. Star, BB and Raven are upstairs, waiting for you to wake up actually."

Danny wanted to slam his head against the wall. Of _course_! He must've gone as far as Jump City, then. Impressive for only a week of flying. But wait, if these were the Titans, why didn't they recognise him?

He'd always tried to stay out of the public eye, avoiding cameras wherever he could and turning invisible before people could get a snap. Still, pictures of the infamous ghost boy had popped up in tabloids over the years, but maybe not enough to make him incredibly famous outside of Amity Park. The rest of the world wasn't as quick to believe in the existence of ghosts, after all.

"The Teen Titans," Danny mumbled, "Yeah, I've heard of you."

"You're in Titans Tower – our base of operations and our home." Robin said, taking over. "Starfire and Beast Boy fought two men in white yesterday afternoon – men who were trying to get to you, it seemed."

"You were pretty banged up, but you seemed to be okay by the time they got you back here." Cyborg frowned, "Except for the fact I couldn't get a reading on you, at all. That was weird."

"What?" Danny asked, his heart sinking.

"No heartbeat, no pulse, but a normal breathing pattern. Figured I'd ask you about it when you were feeling up to it." He shrugged, "No pressure."

"No pressure." Danny mumbled, closing his eyes, "Right. So you brought me here to fix my nonexistent injuries and then play twenty questions?"

"Starfire and Beast Boy could've saved your life." Robin said warningly, eyes narrowing. Danny couldn't help it – he laughed out loud. "What?"

"You can't save what doesn't exist." Danny shrugged, "You want answers? How about I throw a wrench into the works. Those guys chasing me? They're part of an organisation of over-funded paranormal investigators, and crappy ones at that."

"Paranormal investigators?" Cyborg echoed, puzzled.

"Investigators, hunters, torturers. Whatever." Danny muttered. Words were spilling out of his mouth now and he couldn't seem to stop them. "Point is, they're not out to hurt humans, so you have nothing to worry about. The innocent remains protected and all that, you're not neglecting your civil duty by not taking them out."

"What about you? Why were they chasing you?" Robin asked.

Danny laughed again, the sound hysterical. His hands were shaking, drumming against his thigh. He was exhausted and somehow giddily happy, like he'd been shocked by a thousand volts of electricity. Vaguely, he registered he must be having some kind of panic attack, maybe something to do with post-traumatic stress.

"Don't you get it?" He strode towards the two stunned teenagers, "No heartbeat? No pulse?" He pressed his palm against Robin's bare cheek. The boy wonder pulled away, hand reaching for his bo staff. "Come on, it's so easy! I've got ice cold skin and I can even do this –" He disappeared from view and then reappeared, waving his hand through Cyborg's giant metal body.

Neither boy said anything, and Danny laughed even harder. "I'm _dead_, you losers. That's why those idiots were after me. They want to take me in and pull me apart _molecule by molecule_! That's their standard threat. That's everyone's standard threat. After all, I can't feel it. I'm just a _ghost_!" Danny was shouting now, tears brimming in his eyes.

"_Stay out of this, ghost boy. Both of you, out of my lab before I fry you!" _Danny sobbed, "Should've been stronger."

"Man, calm down! It's okay!" Cyborg cried.

"_Ghosts are just matter, sweetie, they can't feel pain." _The halfa fell to his knees, shoulders shaking. "I can feel it. Mom said ghosts don't feel pain, but I feel it. It hurts so much and it won't go away even though I left. I'd take being torn apart by them over this, I'd let them do a thousand tests. Just not this."

A pair of strong arms picked him up and helped him back into the bed, and this time he didn't resist. "Just not this. Not this."

Danny Phantom curled up, unable to feel anything but overpowering guilt and hate for himself. Hate for these people, who had brought all of this tumbling out of his heart. Hate for his parents for not seeing the signs – how tired he was all the time, the bruises, the failed tests and the classes he skipped.

"What's your name?" Robin's voice was close to his ear, "We're going to do everything we can to help you, but we can't do anything unless you give us a name."

Danny ripped at his hair. "_Danny_." He whispered, and then he felt no more.


	4. Barrage

**A/N**

**I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update! School got a little hectic but I've done most of my assignments now so I'm taking a break to give you guys this little chapter. Hope you enjoy it :) Sorry it's so short _**

**Thankyou for all of your lovely reviews and faves and alerts. They make me smile and generally improve my day. So thankyou.**

**-Louise**

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The hunter floated through the eerie green, his eyes narrowed and his hands tightly curled into fists. His memory took him down the invisible road to his island, a route he'd taken so many times he didn't have to think at all about the journey as he flew.

As it was, his headspace was consumed by a single, murderous thought.

_The ghost child is going to die._

His battle with the halfa had almost killed him – the explosion ripping his limbs from his body and completely destroying his suit. He'd waited in the Fenton's lab for days, feeling his ghostly self reform. Usually he could heal from injuries in a heartbeat – excuse the pun – but this time it had been slow and it had been painful.

And it was the ghost boy's fault. He'd go after the human buffoon, but he was already dead. The hunter took some comfort in knowing the boy was probably blaming himself for that, but it wasn't enough.

He finally arrived home, and he breathed in the scent of it. It smelt of life and death – of the thrill of the chase and the bloody end. The hunter smiled, slow and menacingly, and headed into a canopy of trees. He had one purpose for returning here now instead of going after the ghost child directly. No, he wasn't stupid enough to try that a second time. He didn't even know where to look.

This time the hunter was going to make sure the ghost boy met his end – permanently.

When he finally reached the place he was searching for, the hunter came to a halt. In front of him was a giant stone pillar, shooting straight into the sky. Eyes glinting, he pressed his palm against it and closed his eyes. It began to glow, and the hunter heard the call loud and clear in his own ears as he knew the others would.

Skulker cast his eyes to the glowing green sky, his teeth bared in a fierce grin.

The Four would come, and together they would destroy Danny Phantom once and for all.

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Raven's calm was almost always interrupted – by Beast Boy, by the alarm, by the loud rock music Robin liked to play. By Starfire wanting to go shopping, by Cyborg asking her what she wanted for dinner. All of those were expected, living in a house of five.

This time, the interruption was completely unknown. A flood of emotions roared through her; searing, intense emotion that shocked her out of her meditative state and dragged her out of the air. She clutched at her head as books flew off their shelves and the lights in her room shattered and went out, trying to get a hold of herself.

A thought cut through the haze, clear as a bell. It was not her own, but the voice of a boy. Terrified and tormented, it screamed agony. _**Why?**_

Raven's mind was attacked by a torrent of memories – places, people, loves, hates. Grief, happiness. Failures, success. She felt it all and saw it all, and she couldn't not stop it.

Raven ground out a spell between her teeth, closing her mind to the barrage of feelings and thoughts and lying on the floor of her bedroom, sucking in deep breath after deep breath.

"What the hell was that?" She whispered, not quite trusting herself to stand up. She grappled for something to hold onto, finding the corner of her vanity dresser and managing to pull herself up. Her thoughts swirled, entwined with the ones that had slammed through her carefully-constructed mental barriers as if they were made of rice paper.

_Ghost boy whelp spooks! Out of my house evil molecule by molecule don't have feelings family gone all dead run away no home Jack Maddie Jazz Sam Tucker – _

Raven's mirror cracked and she jumped back in fright. _Calm down, Raven. Azerath... Metrion... Zinthos... deep breaths... _Smoothing over her face and pulling her hood down over her head, Raven phased out of her room and floated down the hall. One thought dominated all others, becoming a new mantra to keep her focused as she hit the button on the elevator.

_Who is Danny Fenton? _

Robin frowned, staring incomprehensively at the readings flashing on the monitor before him. Cyborg was busy studying the boy's breathing pattern, trying to come up with a logical explanation for why the boy's heart refused to beat yet his lungs pumped air like a normal human being.

So far, they'd come up with nothing.

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Cyborg announced, "so my only other guess is that he's some kind of freakish metahuman."

"Of course he's some kind of freakish metahuman, Cy," Robin replied, "You think normal humans can phase through solid objects like that?"

"Point. Still man, this is weird. He's flat lining and there's no pulse, but his thought pattern is normal and he's breathing. What's wrong with this picture?" Cyborg shook his head, keying in a code on the keyboard and shutting the examination down.

"He says he's a ghost. What's wrong with _that _picture?"

"I'm not sayin' I'm buying into it, but we _have _seen freakier." Cyborg pointed out, "Why don't we just get Raven to do a mind-scan and we'll have our answers?"

"Because Raven already _did _a mind-scan, no matter how unintentional." A voice deadpanned as the door swung open, Raven sweeping into the room and pulling off her hood. She honed in on the unconscious boy on the bed, eyes narrowing. "Someone tell me what happened before my patience completely runs out, _please_."

"Kid woke up and went a little... crazy." Cyborg said with a shrug. "Started phasing through stuff and screaming about ghosts."

"What?" Raven frowned. Robin quickly filled her in on the whole story, and when he was finished she nodded slowly. "That would explain why I picked up on his emotions – they were too panicked and loud."

"What did you find?"

Raven closed her eyes. "His thoughts were erratic. It was hard to pick up anything really specific. However, I did get a name – maybe his. Danny Fenton."

Robin snapped his fingers. "I know that name. Cyborg, it was on the news the other night, wasn't it? A teenager and his father were murdered."

"Yeah, in Amity Park, right? Cyborg nodded, "Fenton was the last name – they showed the house; big neon thing with _Fenton Works _glowing out the front. Daniel Fenton was definitely the kid."

All three pairs of eyes locked on the white-haired boy. "Does he fit the description?" Raven asked quietly.

"I'll do a search and find out." Cyborg replied. "If he does..."

"Let's not jump to any conclusions." Robin cut in, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we'll have to monitor him in shifts."

"I'll take the first one." Raven volunteered.

Robin nodded. "Okay, someone will switch you out in a few hours, if he doesn't wake up before then. Thanks, Raven."

"Don't mention it." Raven drawled, levitating into the air and crossing her legs. Cyborg and Robin filed out, leaving her alone with thoughts that weren't entirely her own and a troubled young teen who might actually just be the ghost of one.

Raven took a deep, calming breath, and closed her eyes.

"Azerath... Metrion... Zinthos..."


	5. The Four

**A/N**

**I have no real excuse for not updating, save for a lack of inspiration and a lack of time. I'm very sorry for the wait. I've graduated from high school now, so I should be able to update a little faster this time around. I'm so so so so so so soooo sorry guys, thanks for the alerts, faves and reviews I've been getting for this story still. You guys encourage me to keep going. Thanks! Muchos love.**

**-Louise**

* * *

The ghost closed her glowing amber eyes, letting her body drop out of the sky and plummet towards the ground. The wind tore through her dark hair, yet she barely registered the cold air against her colder skin. She hit the sidewalk, landing delicately on the balls of her black ballet slippers and smiling absently. She breathed in and felt her fingertips spark with crimson energy. Amity Park was always rampant with fear. Her more ghostly instincts could appreciate that.

"Nice of you to join us, Nexalia." From the shadows of the alleyway floated a disapproving tone, throaty and menacing to any other ears but her own. Nex rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest.

"I came, didn't I? Don't bitch about how long it took me to get here, because you're lucky I'm here at all." She retorted, waiting for her older brother to step into the light. Saevio, tall and lean and with hair as black as the shadows he used to conceal himself, took a few steps towards his younger sister. His face, usually so composed, broke into a small smile. Nex leapt into his arms and hugged him close, letting years of being apart dissolve into nothing between them.

"I missed you, little sister." Saevio murmured, stroking her hair.

"I missed you too." Nex replied softly before releasing him.

"Ultio and Skulker are waiting, come." Saevio said, suddenly all business. Nex watched him turn and wrap himself in shadows once more, disappearing from view. She smiled fondly. Even when they were alive, her brother had been unchangeable – cold, unapproachable except by his younger sister and their two best friends, with rare flashes of affection thrown in between.

Nex followed Saevio's lead, skipping lightly into the darkness of the alleyway and emerging on the other side. Absently, she wondered whether the boys she loved had yet become strangers. Death is a great destroyer, apparently so much so that not even those who died together could hold on.

Nexalia could not remember her human name. She could not remember where she had lived or what her parents had been like. Instead, all she had was fragments – a hint of a memory, a flash of her colourful human life that disappeared mere seconds later. Only in these fragments were there three constant beacons of light – her brother, and her two best friends. All four of them killed in some way she couldn't remember, and didn't care to try.

When Nex first woke after the accident, she spent three whole days screaming herseld hoarse. People stared right through her, ignoring her sobs and pleas for help. For someone to explain just what the _fuck _was going on. In those first three days, death was unacceptable. She was not dead. And yet… she was. Once the terror and pain had eased, she began to understand. She met others like her, other lost souls wandering and searching. A few tried half-heartedly to guide her to a place they called the _Ghost Zone_, but after she refused they simply floated on. Nex wondered if she would become that, hopeless and bound by only one thing – the fleeting thrill of causing destruction.

Soon after that she began to feel it, the need to smash and destroy and feed on the fears of humans. In the beginning, she tried to ignore it. Convinced that her brother and best friends had moved on and only she was left behind, Nex hid herself away in the shadows, retreating deep into herself and feeling nothing. She learnt very quickly that ghosts do not feel easily.

Then, Saevio found her. Then, she began to feed on the fear of the humans. She began to hate. She began to feel again, and that was so incredible after months of nothingness that she didn't care what it was she was feeling. She and her brother came to Amity Park, where they found Ultio and Skulker. They had all taken new names and gained new abilities. For a while, they stayed together in Amity Park, scaring the locals and keeping each other sane.

But ghosts are interchangeable creatures, and eventually Ultio and Skulker left. Then, she and Saevio chose to do the same, and Nex was alone again.

Now, being in Amity Park again, Nex didn't know what she should be feeling. If at all. Amity Park was a place of fear. Even in the daylight, when the sun warmed the earth, the people lived in a constant state of tension. Like they were just waiting for something to attack, something dark and ominous to jump out into the brightness and cast a shadow on all that freaking sunshine.

Most days, something did. Nex smirked. If what Saevio had told her was any indication, tomorrow they would be that something.

And she _salivated _at the thought.

* * *

As always, when Danny woke up the first thing he did was check whether he had phased in his sleep. A quick scan told him he was safe – snow white hair, glowing green eyes. He could still walk through walls, disappear and fly. With half-lidded eyes, he glanced around the room and saw a fanged boy with completely green skin slouched in a chair opposite the bed he was chained to. One of the Titans, but Danny couldn't recall his name.

Wait – _chained to?_

Danny bolted upright and yanked at the cuffs around his wrist. They dug into his skin and he gasped at the sudden pain. Trying to calm down his racing thoughts, he went intangible and tried to pull his arms free. Nothing. They were stopped by the metal just as easily as if he were solid. Panicked, his breathing becoming shallow and rushed, Danny tried again and again to break free. His chest heaved and he tasted acid in the back of his throat. For a moment, his memory failed him .

_I've been captured. They've got me. Mom… Dad… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! Please, oh God, please. Please. _

"Hey, it's okay. Calm down." Suddenly the boy was beside him, concern written all over his green features.

"What the hell is going on?" Danny hissed, lunging forward and pulling on his chains yet again. "Am I a prisoner now? Do you want me for some sick, twisted _experiment_?"

"Don't hurt yourself, dude." The boy said quietly, holding his hands out in front of him in an attempt to calm the halfa. "You're not a prisoner and we don't want to experiment on you, we just don't want you running off and getting into a fight with those Men in Black knockoffs again."

"Let me go." Danny demanded, grounding his teeth together.

"I can't." The green kid at least had the decency to look regretful. Danny watched him eyeing the cuffs. "I'm really sorry. I've been in your position – chains definitely aren't my thing. I'm Beast Boy, by the way." He stuck out his hand, then realised what he was doing and slid it quickly back to his side.

Danny wondered if it were possible to break his thumbs while he was in his ghost form so he could escape. It would hurt – a _lot_ – but from there he could easily phase out of this place and get back on the run. They wouldn't be able to find him so long as he kept moving. Always, he had to keep moving.

"I was sorta' hoping you'd introduce yourself here." Beast Boy said a little sheepishly, "But seeing as you didn't… you're Danny, right?"

Danny glared at him, and said nothing.

Beast Boy wasn't one to give in easily, it seemed. "Not a talker? That's cool too. You wouldn't believe some of the people we've had through here – they scream a lot and screaming sort of hurts my ears so you're a welcome change. No offense, of course." Beast Boy gestured to his pointed ears. "It's just, these bad boys are generally awesome in my line of work, but they can be a real bitch at any and all other times."

Danny studied the weird green boy, who had since brought his chair around and settled in beside the infirmary bed. He was smiling this weird, friendly smile, and it really didn't seem like he was going to be giving in to Danny' silence. Still, the halfa persevered. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

"Sorry that the hospitality around here isn't exactly five star." Beast Boy drawled, "All chrome, doom and gloom and no cheer. That's half Cy's robotic touch and half Robin's entire personality." Beast Boy grinned. "If you knew Robin, you'd laugh at that. Trust me. I'm the funny guy around here – I tell the best jokes and pull the best pranks. One time, I went down to the park and collected all this – you know what, maybe I'll save that story for when you're feeling a little better. Anyway, as I was saying, the hospitality sucks, but the company's great, right?"

Beast Boy's mouth never stopped moving. Finally, Danny couldn't take it anymore. "Can you _fuck off_?" He spat, his hands curling into fists. The green boy's ears drooped a little and he bit his lower lip, but other than that he seemed unfazed.

"Nah, this is my watch. I'm here till someone comes and takes over. You think my motor mouth is bad? Wait until you spend a few hours with Starfire. She's amazing, but I can guarantee you'll never meet another person like her in your life." Beast Boy smiled fondly. Danny glowered at him, then slackened, defeated.

"Can't you just let me go? I don't want to be here. I want to be left alone."

Beast Boy's grin softened. "Being alone kind of sucks a lot of the time, doesn't it?"

Danny closed his eyes. "Not when you're feeling like this. Company makes it worse. Please… _please_. If you can't let me go… just leave me alone. Don't talk to me. Leave me the hell alone. _Please_…"

It must've worked, for from then on Beast Boy didn't make another sound, just sat patiently beside him. Watching, waiting, all the while with the same worried expression etched onto his face.

It was so honest that it made Danny cringe. It reminded him so much of Tucker that it made him want to cry.

After an immeasurable space of time, Danny heard the sound of footsteps outside the infirmary. Seconds later, Robin pushed open the door and walked in, his cape swishing at his ankles. His face was expressionless, which Danny was beginning to think was a permanent thing.

"You're awake." Robin said. Not a question. For a moment, Danny couldn't decide whether to hurl every swear he knew at the masked boy or simply sit in stony silence. Eventually, he chose the latter. It wasn't worth the energy. Not much was.

"Robin, are you sure it's a good idea to do this now?" Beast Boy asked quietly. Robin shot him a withering look.

"We need answers, Beast Boy." Robin replied, "Danny, I have a few questions to ask you."

"Who says I'll answer them?" Danny said, rattling at the cuffs. "Let me go."

"I can't. Not until you answer my questions." Robin answered, coming to stand beside Danny's bed. "So what will it be?"

Danny glared at the Titans leader, but didn't reply.

"Right. So, Danny… I really only have one question."

"And what's that?" Danny muttered, already dreading what it might be.

"Did you kill Daniel and Jack Fenton?"


	6. A Name

**A/N**

**Here's my attempt at updating quickly. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again for all your support. You guys make my day and rock my world. Love to you all.**

**Oh, just a note. Bear with my minor OC's please? They're necessary to the storyline.**

**Oh, another note! Sorry for the profanity in the last chapter, and any in the chapters to come. This story is a little darker than the TV shows… and the swearing seemed appropriate. If it offends you, I'm sorry, please skip over them **

**-Louise**

* * *

Skulker was a vengeful ghost. He could admit that. Along with his pride, it was one of the flaws that had been intensified once he had died and journeyed through the Ghost Zone's most perilous areas. Ghosts tended not to dwell on the _how _and _why _of their deaths, but Skulker had a few theories concerning the passing into the afterlife. After all – not all those who died became ghosts. Not all ghosts stayed ghosts for very long. Humans think that death is a certainty, but in reality, not even in death is anything certain.

In his years with Ultio, Nexalia and Saevio, they had often discussed their theories on death and the Ghost Zone. Nex liked to believe that they were ghosts because their deaths had been too soon, or unfair. Saevio didn't care much either way, whereas Ultio desperately wanted an answer. He had never said it, but he wanted to pass on. His experience with death had been terrible, even by death's standards.

Skulker maintained that the things they had gone through once they had died was a test of character – he had found himself alone in completely unknown surroundings, not knowing what had happened to him or what he had become. He had to survive, conquer and find his way out of the darkest pit of the Ghost Zone, and in doing so became a stronger ghost. Nex's experience had made her mind unstable, but had intensified her mental powers more so than anyone else's. Everything had happened for a reason. He had to believe that.

So yes, Skulker was vengeful. It was for that reason that he could not simply let the whelp _run away_ from the mess he had created in Amity Park. He could not just _run away_ from the greatest of all ghost hunters – not when his pelt had yet to hang on Skulker's wall! But after his embarrassment at the hands of the halfa, Skulker wanted more than his pelt. He wanted vengeance for his losses a thousand times over. He wanted to ghost child to die.

And so he would. He would crumble under the combined power of the Four. And once the ghost child was gone, Amity Park would be theirs. The humans could not defend it – that was their mistake in driving the boy away. Once he was gone, they would have no defence. None at all.

Together, the Four would take Amity Park. From there, they would take the rest of the human world. The explosion had nearly taken Skulker's life for a second time… but now, he was more powerful than ever. Things were clearer than they had been before. He no longer wanted small game.

He wanted _everything_.

* * *

Nexalia couldn't help the grin that spread across her face when she saw Ultio. He looked just as she remembered him – tall, blue haired, his entire body covered in silvery scars. Ultio stood with his arms folded, looking as rigid as ever as his eyes flicked back and forth. Nex frowned a little. She'd been hoping he'd lost some of his paranoia as time had gone on, but apparently not. Still.

"Ultio!" She cried, giving him fair warning before leaping into his arms and burying herself against his chest. For a moment, he didn't respond, then he gently patted her back and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Nexa." He murmured. "Hi."

"Hi." She smiled as he released her. "How are you?"

"Fine, fine." Ultio assured her with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine."

"Where's my greeting, Nexalia?" Boomed a voice from behind them. Nex whirled around to see Skulker, a giant hulking mass of metal and flames. He smiled, but it looked more like a sneer. Nex hesitated, feeling something gnawing at her consciousness. Something was off about her old friend. Something was very wrong.

Still, she pushed it aside. "Skulker!" She cried with the same enthusiasm. They too embraced, and Nexalia shuddered as soon as they did. Skulker was… different. Uneasy, she drew back and went to stand with her brother. Without saying a word, he took her hand.

"You know why I called you here." Skulker said, already down to business. "I want to recreate the power of the Four, and for that I need the assistance of each one of you."

Nexalia dug her fingernails into her palm. He was more commanding, more aggressive, more sure of himself than he had been the last time they'd seen each other. He wasn't simply a cocky hunter with a big head… he seemed dangerous. He reminded her suddenly of the warriors of the Galthead sector of the Ghost Zone. Strong, deadly, but entirely insane.

She gripped her brother's hand a little tighter. Somehow, she knew that even if they refused to help him in whatever it was he wanted, they would have no choice but to do it anyway.

"What is it that you want?" Saevio asked quietly. Skulker smiled widely, spreading his arms out in front of him.

"The ghost boy has run away from Amity Park, and without him they are unprotected. We could take the town now, but the child might come back… so I want to hunt Amity Park's halfa one final time, and kill him." Skulker's eyes held a malicious glint that Nexalia had never seen before, and it scared her.

"And what after that, Skulker?" Ultio questioned.

Again, Skulker grinned. "After Amity Park has lost its hero once and for all, we will take it. This town is the focal point of Earth's spectral energy, and we can use that to our advantage. We are more powerful here, and so here we will make our home and begin plans to extend our rule over the rest of the world."

"World domination?" Nexalia raised her eyebrows, unable to help herself, "Isn't that a little… _cliché_?"

Skulker growled, turning his attention to her. He floated closer, his entire stance screaming domination. In some ways, ghosts were like animals. They could appreciate the chain of command – and Skulker was fighting for alpha in their newly assembled pack. Nex was not physically strong, so she felt herself shrinking in Skulker's great presence. She felt… scared. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Skulker wasn't the ghost he once was. Something had changed… something major. She didn't like it.

"Cliché?" Skulker repeated, now only inches away, "Are you mocking me, Nexalia? Do you think me foolish? Do you want to challenge my ideals?" With each question, his face drew closer and closer to hers until they were only centimetres apart. As she stared into Skulker's eyes, Nex felt a thousand emotions slam into her consciousness. Hatred, anger, rage. She nearly crumpled with the force.

"Skulker." Saevio warned, putting himself between them. Nex breathed a sigh of relief and leant into her brother.

"I wasn't." She said, "I just don't see the appeal. What happened to simple hunting?"

"I've evolved." Skulker said simply, straightening and striding back to where he had been floating. "So, will you help me? You are my greatest friends, and I would like to share this world with you."

Tense seconds ticked by. Finally, Saevio sighed.

"We will." He said, holding out his hand for Skulker to clasp. "Brothers stand together."

Nex cringed. She knew Saevio's sense of duty and need to protect them would win out in the end. If Skulker was going to launch a full-scale war against the human race, than Saevio would fight with him. And by extension, if Saevio stood with Skulker, then so would Ultio and Nex. That was the way it had always been, and once upon a time Nexalia wouldn't have wished it any other way.

But now, watching the sneer that spread across Skulker's face, she knew this was going to end in tragedy.

She didn't need her ghostly foresight to know that.

* * *

Whenever Danny had fallen into a mood so dark that it was nearly impossible to pull him out, Sam had always been there.

_Breathe, Danny. _She would beg, as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to stop his entire frame from quivering. _Just breathe. Everything is going to be okay. Breathe… breathe…_

Now, he tried desperately to do just that. His chest felt like there was a ten-ton weight pressing down, constricting his lungs and keeping him from getting a decent breath. It was the rage, the anger he couldn't reign in. As he glared at the Boy Wonder, Danny resisted the urge to slice Robin into ribbons with one blast of ice from his eyes. The cuffs on his wrists rattled as his hands shook.

_Did you kill Daniel and Jack Fenton?_

"No." He spat with as much venom as he could muster. "I did not kill them."

_I am Danny Fenton! _

"You were at the house when the explosion happened… what am I supposed to think?"

"I didn't kill them!"

_Jack Fenton is my __**father**__! _

"We need answers, Danny. I just need to know what happened on that night. Was it an accident? Did you mean for them to die?" Robin's questions probed at his mind, memories flashing and anger flaring. He could almost feel the heat of the blast on his skin, could almost hear his mother's scream…

_**Danny!**_

With that, Danny exploded. "I didn't fucking kill them! How many times do I need to say it? How many people think that just because I'm _dead _that I'm evil? That I'm hell-bent on destroying every single good thing in the universe? I didn't ask for any of this, you asshole! I didn't ask for the lies and the pain I've had to go through every single day since I was fourteen years old!" He was screaming now, years of bitterness spilling over as something inside him snapped. "I didn't ask for the countless ghosts that used me as their personal punching bag. I didn't ask for Plasmius or fucking Vlad Masters!"

Robin, to his credit, didn't say a word. Beast Boy looked tense, like he was ready to leap into action at any second if need be. Danny didn't care. He was sobbing now.

"I didn't want him to die! I didn't want them to have to suffer because of my messed up fucking life. I loved them! It was an accident…" He sank back into the bed, curling up as best he could. He wanted it all to stop… the pain was too much. He was so angry, hurting so much… "I'm so sorry Dad… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. _I'm sorry… I'm sorry…_"

Robin touched Beast Boy on the shoulder, and the shifter nodded. Together, they quietly filed out of the room. Robin frowned behind his mask, uneasy at leaving Danny Phantom alone – he was almost one hundred per cent sure he was the killer now, however accidental – but respected the ghost boy's need for privacy. Not for the first time, Robin wondered if he had gone too far.

Then, he shook his head. The others didn't understand that sometimes you _had_ to push, and deal with the consequences later. It was what Batman had taught him. It was what he had carried through to his leadership of the Titans. It was what he had done countless times before, and he had gotten results. He had to be harsh, and hard, and unyielding. It got confessions, and confessions were what they needed.

Still, that didn't stop the guilt he felt as he thumbed the elevator button and began the ascent to the OPS centre. Beast Boy didn't even look at him, and somehow that made it even worse.

Robin sighed. At least they had another name to work with.

It seemed he was going to have to give Vlad Masters a call.


	7. Decisions

**A/N**

**Thank you again to all of you readers, reviewers, favers and alerters out there! You rocketh my worldeth. No, seriously.**

**And now, angry tics fire out of my nipples – I mean, on with the story. *Cough* **

**Awkward.**

**PS - Feel free to send me a PM with any questions or queries about this story or any of my others ^-^ I don't bite! Also, if any of you have a Tumblr, you can hit me up on mine. **

**incon-gruity(dot)tumblr(dot)com. **

**Okay I think that's it :) Mwah xoxo gossip girl.**

**-Louise**

* * *

However embarrassing it may have been, Vlad Masters woke up crying more mornings than not in the months following Jack Fenton's death.

At first, Vlad could not understand it. Jack had been a bumbling buffoon. A lunatic of the highest degree. An imbecile and an utter genius. The source of Vlad's jealousy, and also his greatest friend.

Yet his death had hurt Vlad in ways that he hadn't imagined possible.

The billionaire had changed considerably since the explosion at Fenton Works. The most surprising to him had been his feelings for Jack's wife. In visiting Maddie Fenton in hospital, he had finally seen just how strong her love for Jack had been. As he lay awake for nights and nights afterwards, he finally came to a realisation. He would always love her, but he no longer wanted her. She was Jack's, even after he had died. If Maddie came to Vlad, then of course he would be her friend… but he would do no more unless she asked it of him.

After the explosion, Vlad spent his days searching for leads on young Daniel's whereabouts. He understood why he had run away, but Vlad wanted to bring him home. He could get him back to his family, make up some story as to why the police hadn't found any evidence of his body in the explosion… he would think of something.

He had considered telling Maddie about her son, but decided against it. That was Danny's secret to tell. His duty here was to help pick up the pieces that had once been their lives and put them back together again as best he can. He owed Daniel and his family at least that. And truth be told, he worried for the boy more than he thought he ever would.

As he had discovered, he had changed.

The morning he received the phone call, it was another gloomy, overcast day in Wisconsin. He had risen an hour before, and was sipping absently at his cup of coffee as he studied various newspapers for ghost sightings.

The custom ring told him it was a business call. Vlad ignored it. Then, the caller phoned back a second time. A third. A fourth. On the fifth, Vlad angrily yanked the phone off the hook and slammed it to his ear.

"_What_?" He demanded.

"Vlad Masters?" The voice was one of a teenage boy, and for a moment Vlad entertained the idea that it might be Danny. But it wasn't, and his high crashed with the intensity of a freight train. Still, the voice seemed familiar… he just couldn't place it. "Is this line secure?"

"You know it is, or else you wouldn't be calling." Vlad snapped, "What do you want?"

"My name is Robin, of Jump City's Teen Titans."

Vlad snapped his fingers. "Of course, Batman's boy. Well, this is a surprise. Still, I'm in no mood. Why are you calling me?"

The voice on the other end of the line hesitated. "Mister Masters, what can you tell me about Danny Phantom?"

Vlad's eyes widened in disbelief. He struggled to keep his voice level – on the surface, he was supposed to be out for Danny's head. "If you're calling about his involvement in the Amity Park explosion, I'm not at liberty to discuss that. Besides, isn't Amity Park a little out of your jurisdiction, Robin? What could you possibly want with a ghost, anyway?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Vlad could practically hear the smirk in the bird boy's tone. Insolent brat. "I want to know about his history in Amity Park, and I was hoping you would be able to provide me with something."

Vlad's intuition told him something was up. He chose his words carefully. "I _might _have access to Danny Phantom's entire file – some things top secret and not public knowledge – and I _might _be able to have it sent to you… but I have a few questions of my own first."

As he hoped, Robin took the bait. Like Batman, this kid was predictable. Anything for a case. "What questions?"

"Why the sudden interest in the Phantom case?"

"We have Danny Phantom in our custody after a disturbance in Jump." Robin answered flatly, "I'd like to know exactly what we're dealing with. If you can't help me, I'll simply go somewhere else."

A bluff? Vlad cursed. Also, it seemed that like Batman, this kid was good. But if they did have Danny, then Vlad had his first real lead! Here was his chance to at least talk to Danny, to try and convince him to come home as Danny Fenton.

"Ah." Vlad hummed, "Well, in that case, you can expect Phantom's file in a few hours. But of course, as mayor of Amity Park, you understand that I'd like to speak to the alleged criminal myself..?"

"It's not my job to hand him over to your authorities, Mister Masters. If it's all the same, we're dealing with our own situation concerning Phantom here in Jump City. We're experts in dealing with metahumans… maybe you should let us handle this for now. If I decide you can speak to Phantom, then I'll let you know." Robin replied, his voice firm. Vlad cursed inwardly. He thought about arguing, but quickly changed his mind. He didn't want to jeopardise Danny any more than he already had.

"I understand." Vlad replied breezily, "So, if you'll give me the details of who I should have the file sent to..?"

While Robin gave him his details, Vlad furiously tried to work out what might have happened in Jump City for Danny to end up in the Titans custody. Regardless of what it was, it was not a good thing. He considered breaking in as Plasmius and taking the boy away… but he didn't know anything about the situation in Jump. Danny was still fragile, that was a certainty, and he didn't want to do anything that would frighten him off again.

He had been toying for days with the idea of letting Danny come home on his own, and only interfering if Danny was in real trouble. At least with the Titans, he was in a safe, stable environment. He would be hidden from ghost hunters and various ghosts who wanted him dead. He was out of the public eye for the time being, and Vlad would be able to monitor him through the right sources if need be. No, he would leave Danny in Jump City for now. If anything happened… Plasmius could be there in moments.

"Would I be able to call you to find out any updates on Phantom's condition?" Vlad asked.

"Of course." Robin said, though Vlad doubted he had any real intention of giving the mayor of Amity Park any real updates. It was just a formality, really. Vlad's information would come from behind the scenes. "Thank you for your time, Mister Masters."

With that, the boy wonder signed off, leaving Vlad with a dial tone. When he hung up, the billionaire smiled.

Finally, he was a step closer to making things right again.

* * *

When Danny came to, a different person was sitting in the chair opposite his bed. It was a girl in a hooded blue cloak, her face obscured from view and her skin deathly pale. When she noticed him trying to pull himself into a sitting position, she pulled back her hood and fixed him with an emotionless stare.

"Raven." She deadpanned.

"Danny." Danny croaked, wriggling his fingers in an attempt to get feeling back into them. He ached all over, like he'd been hit by a bus or pummelled into the ground by one of his numerous enemies. Most of all his arms hurt, his bones stiff and his wrists covered in welts. Raven's eyes flicked to his raw skin, and got up out of her chair. "What are you –"

"Healing you, or would you rather I didn't?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow. Still wary, Danny settled down.

"Please." He said, his eyelids fluttering closed. He felt so tired. Suddenly, his arms tingled. It was a feeling he'd never experienced before, not exactly unpleasant but still enough to make him shudder. When it stopped, he inspected his wrists. Good as new. He stared at Raven in wonder. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She murmured, going to sit back in the chair.

"Am I ever going to be allowed to leave?" Danny asked quietly, staring at the chains. Raven's expression didn't change.

"That depends on Robin." She shrugged. "Besides, even if you didn't kill those people, there's still the matter of those men hunting you."

"I can take care of myself. Those men are always going to hunt me."

"Exactly." Raven didn't offer anything more, so they fell into a still silence. Danny didn't know what to make of the dark-looking girl. It was as if she was simply… devoid of all emotion. She reminded him a little of Sam, but their resemblance went about as far as their love of dark clothes. Sam had a certain vibrancy to her; a spark of _life _that this girl didn't seem to have. He could work out the other Titans he had met so far – Beast Boy, Robin and Cyborg, but this one was different. She just seemed subdued, and that made Danny uneasy.

Again, Danny heard footsteps. He sighed – Robin was back. Raven didn't bat an eyelid when the boy wonder pushed open the door and came to stand beside her, not even when he began speaking. "I spoke to Vlad Masters." Robin was watching him, to see how he'd react.

He reacted badly. "Why? What the hell? What does he have to do with any of this? Is he coming here?" His voice was panicked, and he strained against his cuffs. "Does he know where I am?"

Robin held up his hands. "I needed information, and you mentioned his name when I questioned you yesterday. I know Masters from a while back, and I know how he operates. He knows you're here, but he can't get to you."

"You _told _him I'm here? Why would you do that? It's no business of his where I am! You guys have no idea what –"

"Danny, calm down. You're safe here." Robin looked unfazed, "This is Titans Tower."

"I know I'm safe," Danny growled, "You're missing the point! I didn't want to be found – especially not by that fruitloop!"

"Why?" Robin asked, leaning closer to the aggravated halfa. "Why don't you want to be found?"

"He wants to bring me back." Danny muttered, "I can't go back. You don't understand. He knows I'm here… just let me leave. I didn't kill anyone and I can take care of myself. You can't hold me _prisoner _in your Goddamn _Titans Tower_!"

"Calm down." Robin said again, "Danny, I just want to talk. If I find out exactly what happened, then maybe I can help you."

In all honesty, Danny had no interest in the Titans' _help_. But if he talked to spandex-boy, maybe they'd let him out of the cuffs long enough for him to make a run for it. It's a little hard to catch an invisible, intangible seventeen year old.

So, he took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself for the barrage of questions that was soon to come.

"Okay." He relented, meeting the whites of Robin's mask, "I give up. What do you want to know?"


	8. Battleready

**A/N**

**Thank you once again to all of you who have even glanced at this story of mine!**

**I've only just realised that I've yet to put in a disclaimer… I think. In any case – I DON'T OWN SHIT. **

**I thought that would've been obvious, but I digress. Onwards! **

**-Louise**

* * *

The first thing Robin did was arrange a change in scenery.

After Danny had agreed to talk, Robin unchained him from the bed he was in, cuffed his hands together and led him to an elevator at the end of the hall. They descended more quickly than Danny was used to, and when the doors opened again he found himself staring into a bare room – save for a long, metal table with a chair at each end. He'd watched enough cop shows to know that this was the interrogation room.

It made him feel like a criminal.

Determined to keep a little of his dignity and show Robin that he wasn't as powerless as the cuffs made him look, Danny soared to the other side of the room. He kicked his chair back from the table and sat down, waiting for Robin's reaction. The boy wonder gave none, except to stride confidently forward and take his place opposite the halfa.

Damn him.

"What happened the night of the explosion at Fenton Works?" Robin asked. For a moment, Danny wondered why he wasn't recording their conversation. Then he noticed the speakers set up in the rooftop corners, and understood. Of course the Titans were a little more advanced than tiny tape recorders.

Danny took a deep breath. Clenched his fists and tensed as the memories began to flood in. He forced his mouth open and the words poured out. He couldn't look Robin in the eye – simply stared at his reflection on the stainless steel table. He didn't recognise what he saw. A scared kid with tired green eyes lined with bags, messy white hair and skin so pale it almost looked translucent. What he saw was someone who had given up, and the sudden thought scared him.

"I was fighting one of Amity's tougher ghosts… we ended up near Fenton works, and he blasted me through the roof. Da – Jack Fenton was in the basement… I don't know why." Danny gulped back sudden stinging tears, "He grabbed an ecto-gun and started firing… Skulker didn't take that too well. I was too weak to do anything. I couldn't… I couldn't…" He stopped. His body was shaking and he felt numb.

"Couldn't what?" Robin pressed. Danny's shoulders slumped.

"Couldn't save him." He murmured. "Of all the people I saved… I couldn't save him. You ever had someone that you couldn't save?"

The question cut through Robin like a blade. He closed his eyes behind the mask. "Far too many." He answered, feeling he owed the ghost boy the truth. As he watched the silver-haired phantom weep opposite him, he was struck with a sudden, inane thought.

_I didn't know ghosts could cry. _

The sight made him feel a little hollow. Here he was, sitting opposite a boy who claimed to be dead. A boy not any older than him.

Danny shook his head to clear it. "I'd lost my ghost-catching thermos in an earlier fight and I was going to get another when Skulker attacked. He shouldn't have been in the lab… he shouldn't have been there… If I'd been stronger, Jack wouldn't have had to fire his gun." Again, he met Robin's eyes. "I didn't kill Jack Fenton. Skulker fired an ecto-bolt at him while Jack shot at him, and the two collided in the air. That's why there was an explosion. That's why Jack died. Skulker and I were fine… you can't kill someone twice." A dark laugh left his lips. "Now _please_. Let me go."

For a while, Robin couldn't reply. The emotion in the boy's voice had unnerved him more than his emotionless expression let on. "I can't, Danny. I'm sorry, but you still haven't told me anything about those men who were in Jump City looking for you. If the people of this city are at risk, I need to take every precaution."

"Guys in White. Paranormal investigators who have seen one too many bad action movies. They're not interested in humans, so your city is safe." Danny said bitterly, "I already told you – they've been after me for years. Their main objective is to tear me apart. Molecule. By. Molecule."

"In that case, are you sure it's a good idea for you to be out there on your own?"

"I'm fine."

A silence settled over the two of them. It was time for Robin to make a decision – could he believe the ghost teen's story?

"I can't release you from our custody until I have some evidence. You've given me your account, but that's not hard proof that you're innocent." Robin finally said. Danny scowled.

"So I'm your prisoner." He said flatly.

Robin shook his head. "I'd like to make you an offer."

Danny paused. "What kind of offer?"

"I get that you don't want to be locked up in here. If you can give me your word that you won't take off, you can have free reign of the Tower. Well… relatively." Robin wondered if he'd made the right decision. This kid just didn't seem like a murderer. Plus, the boy wonder had a feeling that there was something bigger here… some things the ghost had said just didn't add up.

It hadn't escaped his notice that Phantom hadn't mentioned Daniel Fenton in his account of what had happened. It hadn't escaped his notice that he switched between saying _I didn't kill them _and _I didn't kill __**him**_ constantly. Robin was the prodigy of one of the world's greatest detectives – he picked up on things that other people would brush right over. So this whole situation with the dead boy didn't make any sense. Suspicion nagged at Robin furiously, and would do until he had the answers he wanted. He knew there was more to uncover, and he couldn't release Danny Phantom until he knew the truth.

Danny looked like he was at war with himself. He shook his wrists, and the chains rattled. "So… I lose these, but I'm on house arrest?"

"Essentially."

"And what makes you think I won't just phase out of here the moment I have the chance?" It was a challenge, but Robin thought he knew what he was doing. The ghost boy looked lost, like he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Robin had seen the look on countless young criminals – they were scared, desperate and utterly at a loss with themselves. He hoped he could trust his instincts here.

"I guess I'm just going to have to trust you." He said with a shrug. "So, what do you think?"

Danny nodded. "Alright. Take them off."

Slowly, Robin stood and crossed the room. Danny held out his arms, and Robin slipped the small key into the handcuffs. They fell away, and Danny rubbed his wrists gingerly. He got up and for a moment Robin was afraid he was going to run. Then, he nodded to himself.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Robin replied easily. "Follow me, I'll get one of the others to set you up in a guest room." Silently, the two teens walked out of the interrogation room. Then, turning over his shoulder and offered the ghost a smile. "For what it's worth, I do believe you Danny."

Danny stared at him for a moment. Then, he gave a tiny smile. "Thanks, Robin."

* * *

The moment Robin hit the elevator button, a flashing red light swept over the corridor and a deafening alarm assaulted Danny's ears. He immediately went to cover them, shooting Robin a questioning look.

"What the hell is that?" He demanded. Robin's face was hard, already pulling out a small yellow and black communicator from the utility belt around his waist.

"_Robin!" _A voice cried from the device, _"We need you!" _

"I'm on my way up, Star!" He replied, the elevator doors opening. He dashed inside and gestured for Danny to follow him. "That's a code 369. Something's attacking the Tower." He explained quickly. Years of protecting Amity Park had forced Danny to work his body into battle-readiness at a moment's notice, and already that training was shining through. He found himself almost shouting _going ghost! _and preparing to transform, without even really thinking about it. It seemed his body really could act on auto pilot when he needed it to. Sam was right.

"What should I do?" He asked, a little uncertain. Robin didn't even look at him.

"Just remember what we agreed. Don't run off." Robin replied curtly. The leader of the Titans had undergone a complete transformation in under thirty seconds. This wasn't the boy in the interrogation room, this was a leader ready to defend his home. Danny was a little weirded out and more than a lot impressed.

Danny nodded. This wasn't his fight. "Alright."

He wasn't sure what exactly had made him agree to Robin's offer. In truth, part of him still wanted to run, and maybe he would. But for now, Robin had trusted him enough to unlock the cuffs. He had believed him about what happened at Fenton Works. It was a start.

The elevator opened and what the pair were greeted with was complete and utter chaos. The giant glass windows overlooking the bay had been smashed in, and glass littered the floor. Shouts, cries and the sound of energy blasts filled the room. As soon as the doors open, Robin leapt out, drawing a silver staff and shouting, "Titans!"

"Robin!" A red-haired girl cried, her hands and eyes glowing brilliant green. A green hawk soared across the room, changing into a green tiger in mid-air. A blast of chrome-blue whizzed in front of Danny's face, the half-cybernetic teen's arm smoking as he ran past. Lastly, the cloaked girl muttered something under her breath and suddenly a large couch lifted into the air and was hurled across the room.

Danny stared at the scene, completely dumbfounded. Everything in the room had been completely destroyed.

Then, Danny heard a voice that made his heart pound in his chest. "Where is the ghost child?" Boomed Skulker, firing an ecto-blast at the red-haired girl.

"Get out of our home!" She cried in return, shooting discs of energy from her hands. Danny's stomach dropped. This wasn't the Titans fight after all. It was his.

A sudden thought pierced his consciousness. _This is the ghost that killed my father._

Rage exploded in Danny's mind, his vision tainted with red. He noticed a strange metallic taste on his tongue, but it barely registered. He leapt into the air, his hands lighting up and a Wail building up in his throat.

"_Skulker!" _He screamed, his Ghostly Wail tearing through the air and slamming squarely into the hunter's chest. He smashed into the wall of the room and went through it, debris raining down. Dimly, Danny was aware of someone calling his name, but he paid it no mind.

He followed Skulker out into the sky, firing blast after blast of ecto-energy after him. Looking a little dazed, Skulker struggled to pull himself upright before he slammed into the bay below.

"Whelp!" He cried, his booming laughter carrying to Danny's ears. "Finally, you stop hiding behind these overpowered human scum."

Danny couldn't even form a reply. An animalistic roar ripped out of his mouth, and he shot down to meet Skulker. His fists slammed into Skulker's face once, twice, three times. Still, the bastard laughed. It didn't even seem to faze him.

"I've grown stronger since we last met, Phantom." He sneered. "And I brought along some friends." A maniacal cackle sounded behind Danny. He didn't take his eyes off Skulker. "Saevio, Ultio, Nexalia. Meet the infamous Danny Phantom."

"Unimpressive." Said one of the voices.

"This is the boy who managed to defeat you, Skulker?"

"He's cute." A giggle.

Danny ignored them all. "I'm not fighting your friends. I'm fighting you. Or are you too afraid to face me one on one?" Danny hissed.

"I'm not taking any chances. Besides, from the looks of things, it seems as if you have some friends of your own."

"Danny!" Robin's voice rang out from behind him. "Titans, go!"

"_No_!" Danny shouted. He dove at Skulker, his entire body dropping below freezing temperatures as ice shot out of his palms. Skulker grunted with the force of the blast, and the two ghosts fell from the sky. Danny's fingers curled around Skulker's forearms, ice spreading up his metal suit and rendering him immobile. White-hot anger burned more intensely within him than anything Danny had ever felt before. He wanted to destroy this ghost. He wanted him to feel the pain that Danny had felt after his father had died. He wanted _revenge_.

For a second, as the ice crept over Skulker's body, Danny saw fear flash in his eyes. The halfa felt a smirk spread across his face. His rage burned hotter as the ice spread. This was it. Skulker was finished.

Then, something hit him in the back and seared into his flesh, and everything went black.


	9. Broken

**A/N**

**I don't have much to say this chapter, save for yet another bout of thanks for reading thus far. You guys rock -interweb fist bump-**

**Oh wait, I lied. ALL OF YOU READERS, GO AND FOLLOW ME ON TUMBLR. **

**audiencewiththedevil(dot)tumblr(dot)com**

**-Louise**

* * *

_Titans, Go! Raven, grab Danny! _

The air whooshed out of his lungs as something cold enveloped him and lifted him into the air.

_Whelp! Get back here! _

His back was burning. Everything hurt so much… He couldn't think, couldn't move.

_Where are you going, pretty? _

_Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!_

So much noise.

**Am I dead?**

_Danny, this is going to hurt. _

He was dimly aware that he'd been placed face-down on the ground. He couldn't feel anything, save for something warm and sticky trickling across his skin. Then, cool fingertips brushed against the raw skin on his back, and pain shot through his entire body.

Danny opened his mouth and howled.

* * *

All Nexalia could feel was rage.

It wasn't her own. No, the torrent of anger that swept over her mind was erupting from Danny Phantom like an active volcano. It crippled her, left her clutching her head and crying out in pain. She couldn't discern her own thoughts and feelings – they were all completely crushed by the overwhelming force of Danny's pain.

She closed her eyes as memories that didn't belong to her flashed through her mind. A dysfunctional family, but a happy one. An accident. A destiny. Being attacked from all fronts – family, teachers, school kids, ghosts and the Government. Secrets, thousands of them.

Pain. Unbearable pain.

Breaking point.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother draw back his open palm and fire. A red bolt identical to her own shot through the air. Then, as it hit – right on target – it all stopped, only to be replaced by a new, physical pain. As Danny's back ripped open, she felt like hers was too, and she screamed. Then, sensing what was happening, Ultio reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly until she returned to her own mind. As their hands touched, she immediately felt calmer.

With eyes that stung Nexalia watched, stunned by what her brother had done. Phantom fell from the sky, plummeting to the ground, and Skulker fell with him. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Then, one of the humans shouted something and they leapt into action.

A black fold of energy enveloped Phantom and flew him to safety, while Skulker still fell. Saevio dove for their friend, his eyes half-lidded against the wind.

"Can you hold their minds long enough?" Ultio murmured to Nexalia, still holding her hand. "At least until I get close?"

Her lip trembled, but she nodded. "Just don't let go." She said, sucking in a deep breath. Quickly, she scanned the air for Saevio. She caught his eyes with hers and gave a slight nod. He had Skulker, and was slowly melting the ice away from his armour so he could move on his own. Ultio murmured her name under his breath, and together they soared to meet the advancing Titans.

Four of them had left the tower – the orange and grey skinned girls, the green boy and the leader with spiky hair. The cybernetic human remained just inside, and it was his blast from his cannon-arm that nearly took her head off. With an animalistic growl, Ultio sent discs of white energy hurtling towards him in retaliation. Knowing that Ultio would protect her, Nexalia retreated into her mind and began to concentrate.

She could sense the minds of everyone within the area, all glowing their different colours and burning at different rates. First, she focused on the leader. His aura was a deep crimson, but filled with sparks of light – dark, but safe. Feeling a dip in her energy reserves as she did, Nexalia clenched her fist and secured his mind. He wouldn't be able to move until she released him. With little effort, she guided him back down to the Tower. Next she took the cyborg's mind, which was really only half a mind. The prospect of someone only having half a mind – not half a brain, for he was insanely intelligent, but half a mind – was too weird for her liking, so she quickly moved on.

Next she held the tall orange-skinned girl. Her mind was bright pink and painfully cheerful. She too was taken in a matter of seconds. Thirdly, she went for the multi-coloured aura of the green boy. For a moment, she was startled by his mind. A thousand different consciousness' swam beneath the surface of the boy's mind – all of them fighting for control the moment he brushed over them. Finding herself being sucked in, Nex quickly bound his mind and searched for the last remaining Titan.

The moment Nexalia tried to touch the grey-skinned girl's mind, she began to scream.

* * *

"You son of a bitch!"

"Ultio, please. What happened was just a minor setback."

"I'm not talking about your Phantom. I'm talking about Nexa._ Look at her_."

Ultio gestured to the younger ghost, lying unconscious in Saevio's arms. Her pale face was twisted into a permanent groan and there were still claw marks that had yet to fade on her cheeks from where she had dug her fingernails in, screaming and trying to repel the evil she had seen in her mind. The sight made Ultio want to strangle Skulker – it was _his_ _fault_.

"She'll be fine." Skulker said dismissively, staring out over the town. After their failure in Jump, the Four had returned to Amity Park to regroup and plan another attack, now that they knew their enemies better. Ultio shot Saevio a dark look, but he wasn't watching. He was too busy glaring at Skulker's turned back.

"You didn't tell us he would be with the metahumans." Saevio growled. "You yourself were overcome by the Phantom boy without any competition. You were cocky and it nearly cost you."

"What happened today is not important. We know better now. Meet me here tomorrow at sundown." Without even waiting for a reply, Skulker leapt off the roof and flew away into the night, leaving them behind.

Once he was gone, Ultio turned to Saevio. "I don't like this."

Saevio frowned. "I don't either. Nexalia thinks he's changed."

"You think so? Sae, he's not the same as he once was."

"I'll talk to him." Saevio murmured, holding out his arms. "Take Nex. Make sure she's safe." Before Ultio could protest, Saevio placed his younger sister in his friend's arms and disappeared. Ultio watched them go, then looked down at Nexalia. She stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. She moaned, rubbing her head and blinking rapidly.

"What…? What happened?" She croaked. "Ultio… where are we?"

"Back in Amity." Ultio replied, "Can you stand?"

"Of course I can." Nexalia said firmly. She staggered a little as Ultio put her down, so he caught her again and laughed a little. "What?"

"One of the memories I have from when we were alive is of you and I on your sixteenth birthday. Do you remember that night?" Ultio asked.

Nexalia frowned, then shook her head. "No."

"Skulker and I took you out drinking because Saevio was away and he'd never have let you try it if he was home." Ultio smiled, "You couldn't handle your drink very well. You kept trying to convince me that you could stand and walk on your own but every time you tried… well…" Nexalia looked sad, and the smile quickly disappeared off Ultio's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's not that, it's just… I can't remember my own sixteenth birthday." Then, Nexalia began to cry. Feeling completely at a loss, Ultio did the only thing he knew how – he wrapped her in his arms and let her sob into his chest. "Her mind, Ultio… it was so horrible. I've never felt anything so… so dark."

Ultio grimaced. "Not even my mind?"

He felt her shake her head. "Yours isn't like that. Nothing I've ever felt is like that."

"It's okay now, Nexa. I promise. You don't have to do it again." Ultio said, feeling helpless. He could feel the beast in his mind roaring and slamming itself against Ultio's mental cage, and he quickly buried his face in Nexalia's hair to stave it off. He tried to hide his emotions, but by the way she hugged him tighter, he guessed she'd already felt them.

"Is it getting bad again?" Nex asked quietly. Ultio squeezed his eyes shut. The last time it had felt like this, he had lost control of himself and gone on a killing spree in a small town in California. When he'd 'woken up' and found him covered in the blood of a family with three children, he'd flown to the last place he'd seen Nexalia. Luckily, she was there.

"Yes." He sighed. People thought that ghosts killed without a second thought. The truth was anything but. Of course, they did enjoy fear. They fed off it and were more powerful from the emotions of the humans they terrorised. But they didn't enjoy killing. Sometimes, ghosts like Ultio lost control. After being caged and treated like an animal for so many years… he had become one.

He could feel himself growing calmer, and his shoulders relaxed. He knew it was Nexalia, feeding him positive emotions to ward off his negative ones. Oh, God, he had missed her.

Nexalia pulled back a little, and cupped his face in her hands. He saw a mischievous glint in her eye, and knew that she had switched yet again. Because of her mental abilities, Nexalia often had a very loose grip on her own mind. Like him, her experiences had left her scarred. The only difference was that hers were mental, whereas his were physical.

"If you missed me… don't leave me again." Nexalia said, floating into the air and gently kissing him. "Because I missed you too."

For a blissful moment, Ultio felt the beast in his mind disappear.

* * *

Danny woke to the smell of blood and vomit.

He woke to olive skin, blue eyes, and jet black hair.

He woke to Robin and Raven sitting by the side of his bed, waiting for him to open his eyes.

When he did, neither party said anything for a moment. Then, Robin shook his head.

"Daniel Fenton." He said simply, folding his arms over his chest and frowning. Danny squeezed his eyes shut once more, and nodded. "We have some things to talk about."

"Don't bother." Danny cut in, his voice sounding dead even to his own ears. "My name's Danny Fenton and my parents are Maddie and Jack. I have a sister named Jazz who is the only one out of the three of them who knows anything about this. My parents are ghost hunters and they built this machine that was supposed to grant them access to the Ghost Zone but they screwed up so I tried it. It went haywire and I guess… half killed me or something. No one knows I'm Phantom. I've spent the last three years of my life being hunted by ghosts, the Government, and my own fucking parents." Danny sucked in a ragged breath. "Nothing I ever do is good enough. No matter how many people I save, I'm still just an unnatural, dangerous, disgusting _freak_."

Raven shot Robin a pointed look. Robin cleared his throat. "Danny… you don't have to stay here anymore."

But Danny wasn't listening. He just didn't care anymore.


End file.
